WAJ3103 English Language Proficiency II

TOPIC 6

WRITING REFLECTIONS

6.0 This topic intends to introduce to course participants the importance of writing critical reflections and how to write a good critical reflection. 6.1 Learning Outcomes Read and identify the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of reflection. Use correct and appropriate language in writing a reflection. Write a critical reflection. Assess own reflection through critical analysis. Aware of the importance of writing a reflection.

6.2 Content
WRITING REFLECTIONS

DEFINITION

IMPORTANCE

HOW TO REFLECT

ANALYSIS

PRACTICE WRITE A CRITICAL REFLECTION

6.2.1 Definition It is generally believed that the thinking process involves two aspects: reflective thinking and critical thinking. They are not separate processes; rather, they are closely connected (Brookfield 1987). Reflective writing is writing which involves ' consideration of the larger context, the meaning, and the implications of an experience or action' (Branch & Paranjape, 2002, p.1185).

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Reflective thoughts can be presented and shown orally or in written form. For example, you can do a class oral presentation on your reflection of your first semesters experience as a student, or you can also write your reflection in an essay form. Below is what reflective thinking is and what is not:

YES your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information your response to thoughts and feelings a way of thinking to explore your learning an opportunity to gain self-knowledge a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills a way of making meaning out of what you study

NO just conveying information, instruction or argument pure description, though there may be descriptive elements straightforward decision or judgement (e.g. about whether something is right or wrong, good or bad) simple problem-solving a summary of course notes a standard university essay

Thus your reflective thoughts are what you think, feel and believe about an event, incident or experience. Writing reflection is a good exercise to develop and reinforce your writing skills as it includes description (what, when, who) and analysis (how, why, what if). It is an explorative tool often resulting in more questions than answers.

a) Write R for reflection or NR for not reflection for each of the examples below. i ) The exhibition was clearly a failure. It was disorganized and staff did not know their duties. ii ) There were about twenty booths at the exhibition and each one had its own theme. iii ) It is important for staff to know their duties well as this would enable them to be effective team players. However, this was not the case at this exhibition. iv ) It was a breezy day and the sun was shining brightly. It was a good day to have an exhibition of this scale. _______ _______ _______ _______

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v ) A manager or project manager of an exhibition should have several preliminary meetings with the staff prior to the exhibition. The failure of this exhibition is mainly due to the lack of communication and weak empowerment to the staff. 6.2.2 Importance

_______

Why is doing or writing reflection important to the learning process? Biggs 1999 in King 2002 claims that "Reflection is indicative of deep learning, and where teaching and learning activities such as reflection are missing only surface learning can result." This is to say that if a student is able to write a good piece of reflection on a given task, it is an indication that the student has understood and has a good grasp of that particular topic. This is true of reflection as it does not only consist of mere description but also embedded with analytical descriptions which are derived from good understanding of the theoretical aspects of the topic. Thus reflective writing tasks are given to students to help students learn through reflection, precisely because of the established link between reflection and deeper learning. As well as facilitating learning and monitoring learning, the intention is to produce graduates who have acquired the habit of reflection as a means of continuing to learn and grow in their professions. Reflection can lead to:

personal growth professional growth meaningful change

"Reflection leads to growth of the individual morally, personally, psychologically, and emotionally, as well as cognitively". Branch & Paranjape, 2002, p. 1187 Reflection can help you to:

better understand your strengths and weaknesses what you are good at identify and question your underlying values and beliefs acknowledge and challenge possible assumptions on which you base your ideas, feelings and actions recognize areas of potential bias or discrimination acknowledge your fears, and identify possible inadequacies or areas for improvement

Reflection can lead to greater self-awareness, which in turn is a first step to positive change it is a necessary stage in identifying areas for improvement and growth in both personal and professional contexts. Taking time to reflect can help you identify approaches that have worked well, and in that way reinforce good practice.

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6.2.3 How to reflect and write a critical reflection A critical reflection is a combination of thoughtful description and analysis of a topic. Below are the 5 steps to writing a critical reflection. STEP 1 Establish topic . What happened? At this stage you can describe, explain, summarize or narrate what you saw, heard, experienced or felt. You should also state the background of the reflection task. Why and what do you do the reflection for. Develop topic. So what? At this stage you make a point or develop a thesis about the topic. Below are several ways to generate ideas and organize your thoughts. Define Classify: Explain a topic by categorizing. Compare/Contrast: Illustrate the similarities or differences Cause: Consider the cause or root of something Effect: Discuss the effects of something. Evaluate: Determine whether a topic is good or bad, desirable or undesirable, ethical or unethical, effective or ineffective, etc. Or is the topic somewhere in between? Propose: Suggest a necessary action to take or propose a solution to a problem. STEP 3 Conclude. Now what? At this stage you can conclude by stating the importance of the topic to you or to your readers. It is also recommendable to include implications and significance of your ideas. Style. What style should you use? Reflections are mostly informal but the style you choose may depend on the situations. Academic paper may have a conversational tone but research paper may be a bit more formal. Special effects. You may provide and include sketches, photographs, graphs, etc .

STEP 2

STEP 4

STEP 5

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6.2.4 How to analyse A good critical reflection is based on analytical questions which lead to self- reflection and not self-criticism. Thus you must also include in your description and analysis how you felt, lessons you have learnt from the experience, and how this will form and affect your future behavior and beliefs. Below is a sample of a written reflection. Note how possible questions are raised to help

improve the reflection.

i.

shocked. It reminded me to maintain an appropriate communication style with students when I am a teacher.
Analytical questions : What actually took place? What was the students reaction or feeling? What is the appropriate communication style? Why did the teacher shout? What do you think triggered this behaviour? What have you learnt from this experience? Below is the improved critical reflection of the trainee teacher.

When the teacher shouted to the student for no apparent reason, I was

ii. When the teacher raised his voice to the student for no apparent reason, I was shocked and the student appeared to feel humiliated. Clearly this behaviour by the teacher was not appropriate, even though the teacher was obviously frustrated at the students apparent inability to understand the simple instructions. While it is the responsibility of every teacher to behave respectfully with students, on this occasion an excessive workload and the communication gap, as the teacher didnt speak the students first language, no doubt contributed to the teacher's behaviour. It reminded me that language and cultural factors within the education system, such as first and second language proficiency, can have an impact on the quality of instructions given by teachers.

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6.2.5 Reflective essay structure Before you can write a critical reflection, you need to know the structure or format of your reflection. Reflective essay do not have a certain structure because cannot be written according to a standard essay scheme. This is due to the fact that the thesis statements and the conclusions of reflective essays are often blurry. Here is a probable scheme of a reflective essay:
The aim of the opening paragraph is to get the reader involved in the authors story

including interesting details, personal experiences. The style must be very vivid and therefore to appeal to the reader as if it was a conversation on the meaning of life or love. As we have discussed above this is the part where you establish your topic.
The middle part reveals a good variety of the authors ideas on the topic. This the part

where you develop your reflection. This part may consist several paragraphs.
The last part includes concluding sentences that summarize the main ideas and

experiences of the essay. The author reflects and writes his general perception of the given topic. STRUCTURE / FORMAT PARAGRAPH 1 Establish topic

PARAGRAPH 2 onwards Develop topic

FINAL PARAGRAPH Conclude and Summarize

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Task Using the format shown above, write a reflection on a lecture that you just had. Then exchange it with a friend. Try to raise as many analytical questions on the reflection done by your friend. Then rewrite and improve your reflection by answering some of the questions raised.

Bibliography

Learning through reflection. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/development/reflection.html McIntyre, D. J. and OHair, M. J. (1998). The reflective roles of the classroom teacher. London: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Monash University. (2011). Reflective learning process. Retrieved from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/medicine/reflective/3.xml Moon, J. (1999). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Retrieved from http://www2.unca.edu/et/br022102.html Parsons, R. D. and Brown, K. S. (2002). Teacher as a reflective practitioner and action researcher. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Reflective essay writing rubric. How to write a reflective essay - outline, structure, format, ideas, topics. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.customessays.org/essay_types/Reflective_Essay.html What does your reader expect in a reflection paper? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.une.edu.au/tlc/alo/critical3.htm

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